Dr Tim Ubhi, a spokesman for RCPCH, says the parent/child relationship is
being substituted or replaced by technology

Parents should spend more quality time with children and not substitute or replace interaction with screens, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has claimed.

Dr Tim Ubhi, a spokesman for RCPCH, said parents should have quality time with their children, and encouraged them to have greater dialogue with their children.

The consultant paediatrician said: “Currently in the western world, the parent/child relationship is substituted or replaced by technology- TV, DVDs, iPads- used to occupy children while we lead busy lives.”

The comments come after the American Academy of Paediatrics announced new guidelines for the 62,000 paediatricians it represents to tell parents they should read to their children from birth.

Dr Ubhi gave his informal support for the proposals in the US but said that it did not mean it would become official policy here.

He said: “We haven’t made it policy, there would have to be research but what I would say is parents should spend quality time with children and this is a way to have quality time.”

The spokesman for RCPCH praised the guidelines for “trying to enhance parent/child interaction” because of what he claimed was a “clear disparity between social classes". Dr Ubhi pointed to the fact that children from wealthier backgrounds have a clear advantage and the American proposals were a way to "address the balance".

He said the study behind the guidelines highlighted "an issue that needs addressing" and added that the proposals "raised the profile of the need to spend quality time with children".